The violence could mark a turning point in the Sunni protest movement, which is posing a
challenge to Iraq’s stability.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks on three Sunni mosques, and it
was unclear whether there was any connection to the storming of the protest camp.The raid on the
protest camp drew condemnations from Sunni leaders and foreign diplomats, and raised fears that
Iraq is being pushed toward all-out sectarian fighting.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced the formation of a ministerial committee to
investigate.

The security crackdown began at dawn in Hawija, 150 miles north of Baghdad.

The raid occurred four days after a checkpoint jointly run by the police and army near the town
came under attack. Militants seized weapons before retreating into the crowd of protesters,
according to the Defense Ministry. Authorities had been trying to negotiate with local and tribal
officials to hand over those responsible.

Iraq’s Defense Ministry said 23 people were killed yesterday in Hawija, including three soldiers
as well as militants. It said members of al-Qaida and Saddam’s outlawed Baath Party were among the
militants’ ranks.

As Iraqi forces tried to make arrests, they came under fire and were targeted by snipers,
according to the Defense Ministry account. Authorities reported detaining 75 people and seizing
machine guns, hand grenades, daggers and swords.

Outrage over the morning raid soon spread through other Sunni parts of the country.

Gunmen tried to storm army posts in Rashad and Riyadh, leaving 13 people dead, according to
Defense Ministry, police and hospital officials.

Elsewhere, a policeman near a protest site in Fallujah was killed by sniper fire, according to
local officials. In nearby Ramadi, protesters threw stones at a military convoy and set army
vehicles ablaze.

In Baghdad’s Dora neighborhood early yesterday, two bombs went off near a mosque, killing seven
worshippers and wounding 17.

Then in the evening, a bomb exploded as people were leaving a mosque in Muqdadiya, about 60
miles north of Baghdad, killing eight worshippers and wounding 20 others. And gunmen opened fire on
worshippers leaving a mosque in Baghdad, killing three worshippers and wounding nine.

Gunmen also fatally shot an electoral official in the Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City.